DeFi exchange PancakeSwap’s CAKE token surged in value last month on support from increased trading volumes and a steady token burn rate. The exchange had shot into the spotlight in March after Binance officially integrated it into its platform.
CAKE surged nearly 40% in March, and was last trading around $10. The project is the first DeFi program supported by Binance, and supports trading in on the BEP20 Token standard. Total value locked (TVL) into the platform jumped by nearly $1 billion last month, making Pancake the 10th-largest DeFi exchange, according to Defi Llama.
Trading income rises, CAKE tokens burnt
The exchange’s weekly statistics showed a 22% jump in trading fees from last week to $3.7 million, indicating a higher amount of activity on Pancake. The project also burnt 13 million CAKE, or about $21 million over the past two weeks.
Pancake’s usage has been on a steady uptrend since the Binance integration. This trend has also supported CAKE’s price, which is used to trade on the platform, as well as incentivize liquidity deposits. Average daily volumes for CAKE doubled to around $200 million after the integration.
Data from WhaleStats also showed that CAKE is the 12th-most held token by Binance Smartchain Whales. But despite its strong performance through March, the token is still 76% down from a record high of around $46, which was hit in April 2021.
DeFi recovery underway
DeFi exchanges have seen a widespread resurgence in interest through March. Several major platforms, including Pancake, saw their TVLs jump by double digits through the month. Recently, AAVE, the native token on the namesake platform, surged 25% as its TVL crossed $14 billion- a key level.
DeFi usually tends to offer far better returns than traditional savings accounts, which made the medium surge in popularity during the volatility-inducing Russia-Ukraine conflict. TVL in DeFi is currently at an over two-month high of $175 billion, and is close to regaining a lifetime high of $188 billion.